Hometown: I grew up in Detroit, graduated high school in Gladwin, and have lived in Traverse City for a total of 9 years (two periods)

A little background: I joined the Air Force in 1982 and retired in 2004. 22 Years of service spent in Air Intelligence and Recruiting. Professionally my time in the Air Force was largely spent working with classified intelligence. I finished my career as an Air Force Recruiter helping young men and women start their lives in an exciting profession. In fact, I was the Air Force Recruiter in Traverse City from 1998 – 2002. If you were here for the Cherry Festival parade any of those years you’d have seen me driving the mini F-16 Thunderbird. I’ve lived in many places around the world. I learned to sail in Greece while living on the Island of Crete for my first duty assignment.

Most frequently asked question you hear: Most of the questions I field on a regular basis deal with possible cancellations. It’s nice knowing we provide a service people are excited to take part in. They all want to make sure we’re going to sail even if the weather is not great!

What are you most looking forward to this season: Perhaps the thing I’m looking forward to most is seeing smiles on the faces of our patrons. It’s never mattered what job I was doing, I always want to make a difference. Seeing them smile as they get on and off of Manitou is going to be incredible!